


Empire of Dirt

by matan4il



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Prompt Fill, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 06:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16153073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matan4il/pseuds/matan4il
Summary: Haley on Tumblr asked for a drabble where Aaron is upset over Grace's death and Robert comforts him. Served, with lots of love! Also sending much love to my beta, Jo! <3They made a circle. Chas and Grace. An unbroken circle.His mother was lying in the hospital bed, her gown not her own, her smell overpowered by strange hospital odors, her fatigue and loss stretched across her face and her eyes shut tight against the death of Grace. Against the death of her impossible to tame hope.





	Empire of Dirt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HaleyDingle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaleyDingle/gifts).



They made a circle. Chas and Grace. An unbroken circle.

His mother was lying in the hospital bed, her gown not her own, her smell overpowered by strange hospital odors, her fatigue and loss stretched across her face and her eyes shut tight against the death of Grace. Against the death of her impossible to tame hope. Aaron picked up on the exact moment when it crept in, the undeniable, and broke the last of her denial, smashing her heart into a flood of sobs and tears. It was gushing out of her like blood from a cut that would never heal. 

His mum was never physically big, but she seemed more of a giant to him than he ever could imagine when she was embracing the tiny, lifeless body in her arms. Tiny it was, and formed so flawlessly on the outside, so deceptively perfect. A giant, bigger than life and it wasn't the stark difference in size that made her appear that way as she continued to fold herself around her daughter. A promise of protection that no medical miracle could have allowed Chas to fulfill for her little grace.

There was so little they could do. Paddy hugged her. So did Liv. Aaron hugged her. And Robert was also there, his one hand warm on Aaron's back, the other offering a light grip of silent support to the only patch of Chas' shoulder that he could reach. All utterly helpless to spare Chas from having to bury her baby daughter.

Their bedroom in the Mill is dark. Aaron goes to turn on the lights, but hesitates. It feels disrespectful somehow. He walks over to the window and peers out at the soft glow from the houses nearest to theirs that he can make out. Lets his mind wander. He remembers how long they stayed by his mum's hospital bed, he goes over how her cries gradually subsided in that way that weeping does when there are no more tears left to cry and no relief either, only complete exhaustion, and he recalls in detail James' coffin being slowly lowered down below... He can see the mounds of dirt gathered round the edges of the hole that was cut in the ground, establishing the borders of the grave already. He thinks back to how similar the ceremony was for Gerry. Soon enough, his little sister will be in one of those wooden boxes, too. He'll bring their mother home and then he'll have to watch the same service carried out for his baby sister. 

The image of Liv flashes across the darkened dale view. That time they worked at the scrapyard together and he felt a sense of pride he couldn't quite explain. The little scrunch she does with her nose when she's struggling with a math problem and is motivated to go on only by sheer stubbornness. That once when she accidentally short circuited Robert’s favourite hair drier and managed to be both sorry and cheeky about it. The first time she teased Aaron like bickering siblings do without a hidden worry behind her eyes that he may chuck her out. He thinks of the road still ahead of them... finding out what she'll want to do with her life career wise, being there for her if she needs help with relationships or with the lack thereof, getting to see her someday setting up her own home. He'll never have any of those things with Grace. His baby sister will always remain one day old and a bundle of painful, dashed dreams and what if's.

There's a hand gently resting at his neck. Warmth that spreads from flesh to flesh. Like they're one already. Robert clearly wants to ask, but knows his partner well enough to intuit that he'll not get much in the way of a verbal response. "I would have loved to know our other little sister," he says, breath ghosting over Aaron's skin comfortingly, close to where his hand continues to connect them.

Aaron nods in place of the 'me too' he wanted to add. He doesn't need to say anything. A gentle stroke at his nape clarifies he's understood and his own tears start spilling out. Without sound. Robert pulls him closer and Aaron turns into his side, buries his head in the crook of neck that has always felt like it was made for him. Robert's other arm come up around his shoulder and Aaron hugs his soon to be again and always has been husband. Tight. He doesn't have to hold anything back, not his weeping, not the force he uses to keep them as bound together as two human bodies can be, feeling Robert everywhere around him, an anchoring and loving presence. From the corner of his eye, Aaron catches the dimmed outline of their reflection in the full body bedroom mirror.

They make a circle.


End file.
